Search form

Main menu

You are here

Gaza children set for second world record in just a week

29 July 2010

29 July 2010
East Jerusalem

Gaza 29 July, 2010: Thousands of children in Gaza attending Summer Games organized by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) appear to have doubled their own world record for the number of kites flown simultaneously. The world record breaker took place on a beach in northern Gaza in the same location where they set the world record just one year ago. UNRWA sources say the unofficial figure for the number of kites flown is over seven thousand two hundred.

A delighted UNRWA Gaza Director, John Ging said, “We still have to await final confirmation from the Guinness Book of World Records, but according to our figures the kids have done it, what an amazing achievement, two world records in a week”

On Thursday last week, over 7,200 children bounced basketballs simultaneously for five minutes, doubling a 2007 record set in the United States.

“Like children anywhere in the world”, said Ging, “Children here must have a sense of normality, despite the abnormality they face in their daily lives, today’s achievement has lifted the spirits of the entire population here in Gaza . I ask all our supporters out there to go to our blog and leave messages of congratulation and encouragement at www.facebook.com/unrwa”.

The world record breakers were part of the Summer Games program, organized by UNRWA in nearly one hundred and fifty locations across Gaza over a six week period, involving some quarter of a million children in sporting, recreational and cultural activities.

This is the fourth Summer Games season organized by UNRWA and for the fourth successive year, thousands of UNRWA teachers have given up their summer holidays to allow the children of Gaza simply to have fun.

“I would like to thank all our staff and of course the children”, said Ging, “But I also want to send a word of special gratitude to our three donors to Summer Games; the Finnish Government, the European Commission and UNRWA’s largest donor, the United States of America. Without this amazing partnership between them and the children of Gaza none of this would be possible.”

Background information:

UNRWA‘s Summer Games, conducted for the fourth year with the full support and involvement of the community, is the largest recreation programme for Gaza’s children, providing a diversified set of activities including sports, swimming, arts and crafts, theatre and drama. The Summer Games commenced on 12 June and will run through 5 August, providing 1,200 summer camps for over 250,000 refugee children across the Gaza Strip.

Background Information

UNRWA is confronted with an increased demand for services resulting from a growth in the number of registered Palestine refugees, the extent of their vulnerability and their deepening poverty. UNRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions and financial support has been outpaced by the growth in needs. As a result, the UNRWA programme budget, which supports the delivery of core essential services, operates with a large shortfall. UNRWA encourages all Member States to work collectively to exert all possible efforts to fully fund the Agency’s programme budget. UNRWA emergency programmes and key projects, also operating with large shortfalls, are funded through separate funding portals.

UNRWA is a United Nations agency established by the General Assembly in 1949 and mandated to provide assistance and protection to some 5.4 million Palestine refugees registered with UNRWA across its five fields of operation. Its mission is to help Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, West Bank, including East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip achieve their full human development potential, pending a just and lasting solution to their plight. UNRWA services encompass education, health care, relief and social services, camp infrastructure and improvement, protection and microfinance.

For more information, please contact:

Join the #DignityIsPriceless campaign to stand up #ForPalestineRefugees